During 1945 through 1962, many people in the United States were exposed to radiation fallout from iodine 131 (I-131) from multiple sources. Many of those exposed were children younger than 10 years of age, the population most vulnerable to radiation exposure. This exposure put those children at risk for thyroid and parathyroid disease and cancer of the thyroid.
The health care community should be able to medically evaluate the health effects resulting from past exposure to releases of I-131.
The health care community should be prepared to handle their patients' health effects from acute unintentional or intentional releases of I-131.